Billionaire industrialist Jim Ratcliffe has made good on a promise to make his firm Ineos tax resident in the UK.
Yesterday, the chemicals giant officially opened its new UK headquarters in Knightsbridge, London.
The firm had previously relocated to a tax haven in Rolle, Switzerland, saving an estimated £100million in tax.
And while the company said that its “owners” were now “tax resident in the UK”, it added that it remained “an Anglo-Swiss company”.
Ineos, which has been building a North Sea gas portfolio and has aspiration to introduce onshore hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” in Scotland, said the new headquarters reflects its growth in the UK where it is investing more than £1.58billion in a range of projects.
Mr Ratcliffe said: “Whilst Ineos is an Anglo-Swiss company, our new base in London reflects our British roots.
“The future for Ineos is very bright and much of this optimism comes from our UK based operations.
“We currently supply 1 in 10 British homes with gas, we have a growing trading and shipping business and our chlorvinyls business has doubled in size. We are also planning to extract shale gas in the north of England and to grow the newly revitalised Grangemouth.”
The new office is a base for Ineos, supporting its UK operations whilst maintaining its global reach of 17,000 employees worldwide.
The UK headquarters will include offices for senior management, plus the shale exploration, trading and shipping and INOVYN teams.
The firm’s move back to the UK also reflects its’ increased confidence in the UK and the favourable climate for growth and business, Mr Ratcliffe said.
“We have immense confidence in Britain’s economic future – the current business climate makes siting our new headquarters in the UK an easy decision,” he said.
“Ineos will continue to grow both in the UK and worldwide. Britain is a good location to ensure both of these goals.”
Nick Hurd, UK climate change and industry minister, said, “This government has been clear that Britain is open for business and it is welcome news that Ineos are locating their UK headquarters in London.
“This decision is another vote of confidence in the British economy and confirms the company’s commitment to further long-term investment and growth in this country.”
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